US Africa Command announced that it launched an airstrike against Shabaab, al Qaeda’s branch in Somalia, while US advisors accompanied Somali and African Union forces in a counterterrorism exercise on Jan. 7.

AFRICOM described the offensive under the guise of a “self-defense strike,” as it did on nine other occasions in 2016, when it was really another skirmish in a decade-long military operation against Shabaab.

According to AFRICOM, US advisors accompanied a combined force of Somali and African Union troops on a raid in Gaduud, a town just north of Kismayo in southern Somalia. The area is a known hotbed for Shabaab, which has taken over nearby towns and villages.

AFRICOM said the combined military force was conducting offensive operations to “disrupt” al Qaeda’s branch in Somalia.

“During a counterterrorism operation to disrupt al-Shabaab, the combined partner forces observed al-Shabaab fighters threatening their safety and security,” AFRICOM said. “The US conducted a self-defense strike to neutralize the threat, no enemy fighters were killed.”

AFRICOM described Shabaab as a group of “violent extremists” who “endanger the safety and stability of the Somali people.”

The US military has described airstrikes launched during other offensive operations against Shabaab targets such as training camps and IED factories as self-defense strikes and “defensive fires” missions. Last year, AFRICOM described nine such operations as defensive in nature. The Department of Defense has even justified airstrikes on Shabaab training camps, such as the one in Raso on March 5, 2016, as defensive operations. The last announcement of a self-defense strike in Somalia took place on Sept. 28, 2016, when combined forces raided a Shabaab IED factory near Galcayo and killed nine fighters.

The US military has been launching airstrikes and naval bombardments, as well as special operations raids against Shabaab and its predecessor, the Islamic Courts Union, since 2006. Many of these raids were in direct support of military operations, such as airstrikes and naval bombardments in 2007 that supported Ethiopia’s invasion to depose the Islamic Courts Union.

The Long War Journal has recorded 30 such operations against Shabaab or the Islamic Courts since 2006 (see list below). The number of US military operations in Somalia may well be higher, however, it has been difficult to track strikes against Shabaab as there are multiple actors involved in targeting the group, including Kenyan and Ethiopian sources. The US military has not released statements for every encounter. Additionally, for a long period of time, Iranian news outlets muddied the waters by attributing every nearly every action against Shabaab in southern Somalia as a US drone strike. Verifiable press reporting has also been inconsistent.

AFRICOM has loosely defined targets such as IED facilities and training camps as “counterterrorism operations,” when in reality these are military operations since they are often launched against well-defended and well-defined targets in areas under direct Shabaab control. Like other al Qaeda branches, Shabaab controls a significant amount of territory and operates a military, intelligence and services, and governs areas it controls. AFRICOM planners are clearly aware of this, and, as the last two missions attest, air assets were on station to quickly strike Shabaab fighters.

US operations targeting Shabaab since 2007:

Jan. 7, 2017 – US forces launched a self-defense strike near Gaduud during a counterterrorism operation to disrupt Shabaab. No Shabaab fighters were killed.

Sept. 28, 2016 – US forces kill nine Shabaab fighters during a raid on a Shabaab IED factory near Galcayo.

Sept. 5, 2016 – The US launched two “self-defense strikes” near Tortoroow after a large Shabaab force attacked a “a Somali-led counterterrorism operation.” Four Shabaab fighters were killed.

Aug. 30, 2016 – US forces killed two Shabaab fighters after they attacked a Somali counterterrorism force near Gobanale.

June 21, 2016 – US troops “conducted a self-defense strike against Shabaab, killing three. The operation was conducted after it was assessed the terrorists were planning and preparing to conduct an imminent attack against US forces.”

May 31, 2016 – Somali troops, backed by US forces, killed Shabaab member Mohammed Dulyadeen, a.k.a. Mohammed Kuno and Kuno Gamadere, during an operation near Gaduud.

May 27, 2016 – The US killed Abdullahi Haji Da’ud, “a senior military commander” for Shabaab, in south-central Somalia.

May 13, 2016 – The US launched “defensive fire missions” which “took place in remote locations in Somalia under al-Shabaab control.”

May 12, 2016 – The US launched “defensive fire missions” which “took place in remote locations in Somalia under al-Shabaab control.”

May 12, 2016 – The US launched “defensive fire missions” which “took place in remote locations in Somalia under al-Shabaab control.”

May 9, 2016 – The US launched “defensive fire missions” which “took place in remote locations in Somalia under al-Shabaab control.”

March 31, 2016 – The US killed Hassan Ali Dhoore, a dual hatted al Qaeda and Shabaab leader who also served in the Amniyat, in an airstrike.

March 10, 2016 – US special operations forces targeted a Shabaab training camp in Awdigle raid.

March 5, 2016 – The US military announced that it launched an airstrike which targeted a Shabaab’s “Raso Camp” north of the Somali capital of Mogadishu. The US justified the strike on al Qaeda’s official East African branch by saying that fighters there “posed an imminent threat.” More than 150 Shabaab fighters are said to have been killed.

Dec. 2, 2015 – US killed Abdirahman Sandhere, a.k.a. Ukash, a senior Shabaab leader, and two other “associates” in an airstrike.

March 12, 2015 – The US military confirmed that it killed Adan Garaar, a senior official in the Amniyat and “a key operative responsible for coordinating al-Shabaab’s external operations” in a drone strike.

Feb. 3, 2015 – US troops targeted and killed Yusuf Dheeq, the head of the Amniyat.

Dec. 29, 2014 – US forces killed Tahlil Abdishakur, the leader of the Amniyat, in an airstrike in Somalia

Sept. 1, 2014 – The US military killed Ahmed Godane, the co-founder of and emir of Shabaab, also known as Sheikh Mukhtar Abu Zubayr, in an airstrike south of Mogadishu.

Jan. 25, 2014 – A US airstrike killed Sahal Iskudhuq, a senior Shabaab commander who served as a high-ranking member of the Amniyat.

Spring 2008 – The US killed Aden Hashi Ayro and Sheikh Muhyadin Omar in an airstrike in the spring of 2008. Before his death, Ayro was the leader of Shabaab.

June 2007 – US targeted Saleh ali Nabhan, a top al Qaeda and Shabaab leader who was involved in the Kenya and Tanzania bombings

Jan. 2007 – The US military targeted Abu Taha al-Sudani (or Tariq Abdullah), Qaeda’s leader in East Africa, and either Fazul Abdullah Mohammed and Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, both who . Fazul is al Qaeda’s operations chief for East Africa, while Sudani is the chief strategist and ideologue. Sudani is thought to have been killed in that airstrike (Shabaab said he was killed in an airstrike in 2007.)

Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal.

3 Comments

“During a counterterrorism operation to disrupt al-Shabaab, the combined partner forces observed al-Shabaab fighters threatening their safety and security… The US conducted a self-defense strike to neutralize the threat, no enemy fighters were killed.” Who writes like that? Please, AFRICOM, find some public relations people who can actually tell us what’s happening. Or, just say nothing at all.

I feel like the biggest question I have is,
What is leading them to announce these operations, which are clearly offensive military action by purpose and design,
“qualify,” as “self defense?”

As Mr. Roggio pointed out, the brains behind these spec op, CAS, drone, and naval guns operations are fully and completely aware that they are pushing into territory that’s owned and operated by Shabaab, that the sites they are targeting are well defended, probably built up in some significant ways for defense.

Is the logic behind announcing these operations as “self defense strikes,”
some how rooted in the idea or thought that, maybe, the guys planning these operations know that they are indeed well defended etc, so that, they can announce and say that thier safety and security were compromised when A.U. and Somali troops encountered them, as they knew they would. Also, as Bill pointed out, air assets were on sight.

Thing is, other than the March 5, 2016 strike on a training camp, that purportedly killed 150, most of the strikes killed less than 10 Shabaab tangos. Quite a lot of activity in Mar. 2016, and May 2016. Quite a lot of strikes involving only the terrorist that was being targeted reported as killed.

I’d be interested to know what sorts of numbers for both sides were involved in each engagement. It doesn’t seem like, unless a larger force had previously been at the target site, and that it was confirmed by satellite imagery, maybe some good humint, and they suddenly melted away just in time to avoid the jets or whatever coming in faster than their ears hear, that very many of these operations would’ve involved many people at all.

Maybe, it’s all just PC garbage….
Who knows?
It’s certainly an interesting interpretation of “self defense,” I’ll give them that.

Also, as long as we’re sticking it to tbese guys, and melting them to the pavement, wherever they are, I’m good with that. I’d love to see more of that exact same thing, they can call it whatever they want.